Largely impart due to the no vote in Tempe it feels like there's a sense of disappointment/concern (rightfully so) amongst the core group of players with-in the organization who have been with the coyotes for some time now, i.e. Keller, Schmaltz, Crouse, Fischer & Hayton. As it was reported earlier Keller and his agents met with management and ownership expressing such a concern for both the arena situation and direction of the team. Without diving to deep into the arena situation due to it's complexity, I do think Meruelo and ownership will find a new home with-in Arizona, as there are numerous sites throughout the Phoenix-Metro area that would realisticly make sense. It's more so of finding a way in which to privately finance the project and not require another public vote. With that said it does need to be done rather quickly, or at least making a public statement by the start of the season saying there is a plan in place. Providing some sort of insurance to the players, fans and league. However due to the uncertainty arena it feels like Armstrong needs to improve the team on the ice to help put some of the concern amongst the core players regarding the on-ice performance. Armstrong himself even stated during the exit interviews the he feels the rebuild is complete in the sense of adding more draft picks and is looking to add some younger players/help to the team this offseason that can grow with the team.
When looking at the current state of the Coyotes current roster, prospects and future draft picks it is reasonable to say they could start to transition out of the rebuild without going all in yet.
Current roster: Keller is an elite player who is only 24 and Schmaltz is a low-end first line center/high-end second line guy, having a .929 ppg over the past two seasons (however he has yet to play a full 82 games). Hayton really broke out in the back half of the season last year and looks like a legit 2nd line center who really only has room to grow, Crouse is another solid top6/9 player who in a full season will probably score 25-30 goals, Maccelli looks like he'll be a really good 2nd like winger having scored at a .766 PPG in his rookie season, McBain and Fischer are both solid depth guys who enjoy playing in Arizona. The backend is little weaker with JJ Moser and Valimaki looking like solid 2nd pairing guys with maybe the potential to progress into a low-end 1st pair if all things go right.
Prospects: Cooley looks like he'll be a legit playmaking first line center who can put up 85-95 points in his prime. Guenther will likely be a really good top-six winger who has the potential to put-up 30-40 goals in season. Geekie seems like a safe bet to be a good 3rd line center with potential to be an impactful top-six guy. Soderstrom, Duda, Jenik, Doan, Lamourex, Lutz, Lipkin, Fedotov and Szuber all have potential to be good depth guys if they pan out. With 37 picks over the next three drafts, notably 6 and 12 this year, and 22 in the first 3 rounds over the next 3 years. The coyotes are position to add even more high-end prospects to the system or what will likely happen is trade some of those picks for more assets.
The roster I constructed for next season: Resigned Maccelli to a bridge deal to see if he can continue his production. McBain, Fischer, Mackey and Ingram all signed to cheap two year deals to allow for both them and prospects to develop and then see structurally where the roster is at in 2 years. The Cole and Kampf signings were both signed to fill roster spots, a 3rd line center and a veteran defenseman, so they could really be interchanged with other free agents who classify under those categories. However I did target Kampf because he's a guy who could have been overlooked because he was playing in Toronto who could produce more points than he has before, given more opportunity he might receive in Arizona, plus he's 6'2" so he fits the mold of an Armstrong kind of player. As for the trades I wasn't really sure what Mantha and Addison's value were so I just did what I could see as fair. Honestly I think the Mantha trade really benefits both teams, the Coyotes move up four spots in the draft and would then be selecting 6 & 8 plus adding Mantha who could really bounce back under a new system. While the Capitals would move back four spots, this year's draft is really a crab shoot for the players in the 6-12/14 range as they all have similar upside, however the Caps would be shedding 5.7 million in cap space plus adding an additional pick in the third. It's been reported that the Wild are looking to trade Addison to give him a change of scenery and given the yotes history of revitalizing player's career and lack of young dman it seems like a perfect match.
Overall, I feel like this roster below could surprise some people due to the combination of young players still progressing and coach Touringy's ability to get the most out of his players. While I certainly don't think this team is a playoff team I can see them being at or above 500 and being closer to a wild card spot than the bottom of the league. Aside from the arena or lack of arena situation, the future in Arizona is certainly bright on the ice.
Bettman and friends have been awful in finding NHL owners who actually want to own an NHL team, Arizona was given the franchise, because the somebody gave the NHL a cheque, but the the actually it was real estate and arena deal that had to make the finances work....and if that was a stretch. The other NHL owners were let holding the financial debt of operating the team when the owners.
And let's face, an arena doesn't pay for itself if fans who attend games aren't willing to put up true high ticket prices for 41 home games.
I'm not sure of any city in North America (that doesn't have a team already) that can truly support an NHL franchise. There doesn't seem to be a fan base who would attend games, pay the prices or TV revenue that justifies the 150m it costs to run a NHL franchise yearly.
This could be one scary team with right situation, blast into next years ufa market and get to the cap and a stock pile of kids coming of age, just imagine a billionaire owner brings them to town and wants to make a splash. Add guenther geekie Cooley, with 2/3 vet top dollar ufas. Probably need at least an elite 1c and two legit dman, but not too far fetched, with a 6/12 from this year getting 9 games or more possibly or in next couple years as reinforcements and also a pile of picks in next few years.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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